Last week (or was it the week prior? Hmmm…anyway, doesn’t matter.), I walked to my local Indian grocer (for those in one of the five boroughs, simply take the train and get off at 23rd and walk up Lexington. There are tons of places.) and purchased a bunch of powders/oils that I’ve been reading about on the natural hair blogs. Unfortunately, I also picked up a box of Jamilla Henna only to learn later that most grocers can’t identify the source of the Henna. After reading stories about how a bad batch can destroy the hair, I became even more apprehensive about going down this road. A little more research showed that the other powders were fine to use.

Last night I Pre-Pooed overnight with Vatika oil and today I washed (Neem, Shikakai and Amla powders mix) and deep conditioned (avocado, coconut milk, evoo and raw honey) my hair. I felt a difference right away. My very fine hair had so much strength after the Ayurvedic treatment. You would have thought I was Samson the way I was going around pulling on it. I was so surprised to see how little my hair was shedding (something it was doing non-stop before the wash) that I’m almost hesitant to mention it aloud for fear of jinxing it. Not really. I don’t believe in curses.

Anyway, I can’t thank blogger All Things O’Natural enough for introducing me to Ayurveda. Also a big shout out to blogger the Moptop Maven for her the kick a$$ recipe for the cleansing mixture.Mix
2 Tablespoons Amla
2 Tablespoons Shikakai
1 Tablespoon Neem Powder

Combine with enough water to make a thick paste. Apply evenly on wet, freshly pre-conditioned hair, and massage gently massage mixture on to scalp. Allow to sit on hair for about 15 minutes (mine stayed on for almost 30), then rinse thoroughly with cool water. Follow up with a basic light ACV rinse to remove any additional oils/residue left behind. [1/2 cup of ACV + 2 cups water](I followed up with the deep conditioner and finished off with the ACV rinse.)

I left the DC on for over an hour (with 45 minutes – 1 hour of it under my not-so-hot heating cap). My hair is no where near as soft as it was when I did the Coconut Milk Protein Treatment, but it was soft. *SMH* Leave it to my hair to be super moisturized using a protein treatment rather than a deep conditioner. Your experience with any product or treatment is do dependent on your actual hair (texture, length, health, time of day, weather, etc…) that you can’t just agree to (or dismiss) something based on the experience of someone else.

This brings me to my next experiment – Henna. I am trying it for the first time next week, God willing. I’ve been hearing a chorus of pros and a solo of cons. I’m looking forward to seeing how it works for me. Of course I’ll be posting here to let you all know.